I seriously considered skipping the season check-in post altogether this summer. There are so few shows airing and even fewer that I’m watching that it seems rather futile. But I’ve always done one, every season since I started, and the stubborn side of me doesn’t want to see that end now. It’s going to be a bleak exercise, but skipping it altogether would be even more bleak for me.
As you know if you follow the blog, this is the first season ever where I’m not following a single new series. I guess you could count Great Pretender – and I will include it in this post because I have to put something in there – but really, it’s a spring series. COVID-19 production delays have taken their toll, but that’s not the whole issue. It’s just a bad season (the most recent and worst among many) for the sort of series I watch. The next few don’t look any better. Industry sources are openly acknowledging the problem (the production committee system strangling thematic diversity) now, but no one seems to have the inspiration and/or inclination to try and fix it. I don’t like to think about that, but it’s hard not to worry about the future of anime as a medium.
As I’ve often said, though, these check-in posts are about looking back, not forward. Not that the view is any better, but at least it’s a more straightforward exercise. On a happier note, I was pleased and proud to be a part of Sight & Sound Magazine’s (the official publication of the BFI) Summer 2020 “Anime Special Issue“. They were kind enough to list LiA as one of their recommended anime resources – a heartfelt thank you to the folks at the BFI.
Onward then to Summer 2020:
The Elite
None
Outstanding
Great Pretender
Episodes Watched: 14
Grade: A-
Comments: Kaburagi Hiro and Kosawa Ryouta’s Great Pretender is many things. The best Netflix anime ever, the best spring/summer anime, and at this point the clear favorite (if the final two arcs don’t drop the ball) for best series of 2020. Kaburagi helmed 91 Days too, and he clearly has a great sense of the subtleties of Hollywood genre films. Great Pretender gets those little details just right (starting with the OP), and serves up a really interesting cast in genuinely engaging caper flick scenarios. It looks fantastic too – Takeda Yuusuke’s art direction is a particular standout. Take a tremendous staff, give them lots of money, creative freedom and a forgiving production schedule, and you’re probably going to get great anime. It ain’t rocket science but it’s so sweet when it happens good.
Very Good
None
Worthwhile
Nihon Chinbotsu 2020
Episodes Watched: 10 (complete)
Grade: B-
Comments: After its stellar premiere I would have bet Nihon Chinbotsu 2020 would join Great Pretender as twin pillars of Netflix anime atop the 2020 list. Sadly it didn’t turn out that way – Japan Sinks pretty quickly devolved into something of a dumpster fire. I never totally lost interest because I genuinely cared about the characters, but the writing got very sloppy and the production values turned to crap. Kitchen sink syndrome wreaked a terrible toll, sharks jumped… In short, it got pretty ugly. Yuasa Masaaki isn’t a lock for me but he’s certainly capable of far better work than this.
Still Watching
Deca-Dence
Episodes Watched: 4
Grade: C+
Comments: Without question the most disappointing series of 2020 for me. That said, I’ve always contended that the most important staff member for an original series is not the director but the writer, and I think Deca-Dence bears that out. There’s really nothing about this show that grabs me at this point, though the premise is marginally more interesting than the characters (which is a very low bar). I don’t hate this series, I’m just totally bored with it – but in some ways that’s probably worse.
Muhyo to Rouji no Mahouritsu Soudan Jimusho 2nd Season
Episodes Watched: 4
Grade: C+
Comments: Muhyo to Rouji is perfectly fine for what it is, and the second season so far is dead-level with the first for watchability. Things jump straight into serious mode here though (that’s where they left off, after all), so if you like the comedic side of this series you may find this season a little less rewarding than the first one.
Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai!
Episodes Watched: 4
Grade: C+
Comments: I can’t escape the feeling that this show should have been a short – half-length or 5 minutes sounds about right – because it never manages to hold my interest till the end. And even four episodes in I’m already wearying of it. But Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai does have a certain unpretentious comic charm, even if it basically recycles the same joke over and over. I also like the fact that – rarely for anime – it seems to be set in Kobe, though oddly it’s apparently a mix of locations from Kobe and Sendai (half the country to the north).
Dropped:
The God of High School, Gibiate
Here, then, is this season’s historically-truncated blogging prospectus:
Whenever it Continues: Great Pretender
Monday:
Definitely Blogging: Kingdom 3 (suspended)
Tuesday:
Basically Blogging: Fruits Basket 2nd Season
Wednesday:
Definitely Blogging: None
Thursday:
On the Respirator: Deca-Dence
Friday:
On the Bubble: Fugou Keiji Balance: Unlimited
Saturday:
Definitely Blogging: Major 2nd Season 2
On the Bubble: Appare-Ranman!
Sunday:
Definitely Blogging: None
Manga: Otoyomegatari, Hunter X Hunter (hiatus)
Watching For Now: Muhyo to Rouji no Mahouritsu Soudan Jimusho 2nd Season, Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai!
One more thing before I wrap. Of course you’ve heard me say it before, but the need for financial support for LiA is greater than ever. Everything has gotten more expensive again this year, and it gets more and more difficult to justify the time I have to put in to make the site one I feel proud of. I know times are tough right now but if you’re inclined to consider helping out, please visit one of the links in the sidebar. Patreon patrons, Paypal subscribers or one-time contributors (and don’t forget the Amazon links, too!) – you all have my everlasting gratitude.
In the immortal words of Howard Jones, “things can only get better”.
Red
August 3, 2020 at 8:51 pmWith a dismal season, I’m just glad to see some recognition for this site which is one of my favorites. Would check those other sites too on that BFI list.
Guardian Enzo
August 3, 2020 at 8:56 pmAs long as you come home afterwards!
Red
August 3, 2020 at 9:58 pmHeh, I won’t be lost, I know my way back to LiA.
Panino Manino
August 4, 2020 at 1:07 amAbout Great Pretender, I have a very silly doubt… Why her name is “Abigail Jones”? Seriously, I can’t understand this, is this a false name? Because I can’t understand why an iraqui with iraqui parents living in Iraq have a western name?
That said, I’m ended liking this more than I was expecting.
Guardian Enzo
August 4, 2020 at 8:51 amYeah, but you know, she’s a con artist – I just assume that’s a fake name.
Skidda
August 4, 2020 at 1:09 am“things can only get better”.
I’m actually more worried about the long-term consequences of this crisis on anime industry than just few lacking seasons this year but we’ll see.
I’m waiting for Great Pretender to resume before I start it (I already know that I’ll like it). It’s going to resume for autumn or is nothing confirmed yet?
Speaking of waiting, Ballroom e youkoso finally released a new chapter and manga caught up with the anime… 3 years later. Small victory I guess.
Guardian Enzo
August 4, 2020 at 8:55 amOh believe me, I am too – I’m just trying to be positive.
Anime has serious, fundamental structural problems. Primarily (as I see it) are the deplorable working conditions for studio personnel and the thematic strangulation of the medium. Conveniently, both are fundamentally caused by the same thing – the production committee system run out of control. The problem is, they have a vested financial interest in preserving the status quo. And by nature of the way Japanese business operates, it’s the ones causing the problem who have all the power. The creators themselves have almost no influence (look at what happened with Hoshiai no Sora). I don’t think Netflix is changing that.
As for Great Pretender, I haven’t heard anything official whatsoever.
Skidda
August 4, 2020 at 5:46 pmNetflix doesn’t seem to change it. There was a recent article about it actually (in japanese) : https://www.itmedia.co.jp/business/articles/2006/25/news013.html
Basically, no change for animators and Netflix’s money goes to investments or is used to pay studio’s massive debts.
Princess Usagi
August 4, 2020 at 2:49 amCongrats on your listing in the Sight and Sound Magazine! I am really glad that your amazing blog has gotten recognition!
Guardian Enzo
August 4, 2020 at 8:56 amThanks – me too!
Panino Manino
August 4, 2020 at 12:18 pmEnzo?
Are you not watching Olympia Kyklos? That os is definitively the best of last season and this new one.
Guardian Enzo
August 4, 2020 at 3:57 pmI just watched a couple of episodes. Amusing – reminds me a bit of Thermae Romae.
slazer
August 5, 2020 at 3:15 amCongrats on the Sight and Sound mention!! If there’s any blog and any writer who deserves the credit, it’s you!
Guardian Enzo
August 5, 2020 at 9:00 amThanks much!
Rita
August 6, 2020 at 2:49 amI’m actually quite curious if there’s any ‘backlog’ series you want to catch up with or such during the downtime for this barren summer season. I know your threshold for most of the seasonal animes seems to be a lot smaller than a lot of other blogs, so it’s always seemed like you’ve been able to follow what you want to in a reasonable amount of time.
I know your doing the retrospective rewatches fo Gurren Lagann, or Moribito and such, but are there any series you just haven’t seen at all you’d be interested in catching up on? (even if they’re not necessarily blogging material).
I’m alos following zero current series from this season, but it’s given me the time to go back and binge a bunch of series (especially long runners like Jojo- which I finally decided to watch to see if the memes make more sense in context lol) from the past.
Guardian Enzo
August 6, 2020 at 8:30 amI’m open to suggestions! There’s really nothing crying out to me at the moment TBH.
Rita
August 6, 2020 at 10:19 amI’ll admit most of my backlog consists of ‘hey that’s a show Enzou covered that I never got around to watching when it was relevant’ so a lot of it’s probably not new to you lol
That being said, a lot of my time has been taken by manga instead, especially with anime slowing down to a trickle outside of catching up to older series.
Have you ever watched Twelve Kingdoms by any chance? I think that’s the only series off the top of my head that I watched recently and found quite interesting that I don’t think I’ve ever heard you mention (ESPECIALLY considering how saturated with isekai the landscape is today, it’s interesting to see how the ‘transported to another world’ trope used to be like, mostly a shoujo trope? Inuyasha, Escaflowne, Fuushi Yuugi, all those). I didn’t realize how much pacing and stroy structure had changed in the modern landscape till I started all these old school binges. Which is wild cause I grew up on this stuff but I guess it must have been gradual enough that I never consciously noticed.
Guardian Enzo
August 6, 2020 at 3:00 pmThat’s not a bad call actually – I have thought about going back and watching that at some point.
Skidda
August 7, 2020 at 3:10 am*cough* Hyouge Mono. *cough*
Guardian Enzo
August 7, 2020 at 8:56 amThat’s a thought.
DonkeyWan
August 11, 2020 at 2:55 amHave you tried watching Ahiru no Sora at all? I really do think it’s one of the better basketball animes out there. It’s been very strong this season.
Yualexius
August 14, 2020 at 6:20 pmHi, it’s amazing to see Great Pretender getting some love. I also listed it as part of my summer lineup instead of including it in spring. Nonetheless, it is one of those rare series I am enjoying this season. I have to agree with you that God of High School was quite disappointing. I love the fight scenes, as someone who grew up with shounen, it’s something I really find amazing but the story was rushed and I felt like it’s lacking in substance. Gibiate was just horrible but can’t believe I’m still watching it because of a certain character and it is Kenroku. So far, I really love SAO this season alongside Re:Zero Season 2, Balance Unlimited, Ahiru no Sora, and Fruits Basket (mostly leftover). While I still have high hopes for Fire Force and Oregairu but still can’t find that moment where it really makes me excited. Rent a Girlfriend MC is disgusting, I am only holding onto it due to the girl mc.
Guardian Enzo
August 14, 2020 at 7:39 pmFugou Keiji is rounding into form nicely, if you like that sort of thing.